


Beautiful Friendship, Beautiful Beginning

by Mikkal



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Friendship, Multi, OT3, Season 2 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:59:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6910153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkal/pseuds/Mikkal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“I thought you were dead.”</p>
  <p>Eddie freezes mid-step, his fingers tightening around his coffee cup. It’s just a statement, not accusatory, not fearful, not suspicious, just a statement. “Uh, the rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated?”</p>
</blockquote><p>Patty and Eddie meet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful Friendship, Beautiful Beginning

“ **I thought you were dead**.”

Eddie freezes mid-step, his fingers tightening around his coffee cup. It’s just a statement, not accusatory, not fearful, not suspicious, just a statement. He turns slowly and smiles at his partner’s new partner. It’s a little tight, maybe, a little bitter. “Uh, the rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated?”

Patty Spivot scoffs. “How long have you been back?”

He takes a sip of his drink to stall—he knows she knows, but how much does she actually know? “Only a few days.”

She narrows her eyes at him, calculating, whip-smart. He can see why Barry likes her so much, why Joe let her into the Anti-Metahuman Taskforce even if she did have to force her way through technically. He can see why Joe approves of her more than he ever did of him. “Does Iris know?” She hesitates. “Does Barry know?”

Eddie should question why she put Iris and Barry in the same thought together, he should question how she even knows about them, but he doesn’t. He shrugs, shoving one hand into his jacket pocket. “Yeah. It’s kind of hard to keep it from them when I suddenly appeared in their basement.”

“Harry did,” she points out. “Managed to get all the way to Mercury Labs and back before anyone was the wiser.”

 _Harry?_ Oh, Harrison Wells, a real one, not his—well—. “You and Joe knew,” he points out. He clears his throat. “They know,” he says, feeling a little guilty. The tension between them, thick enough to touch, is his fault, after all, he’s the one who came back. “Patty—.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “I like him, yeah, but he was never, what’s the word, _here_ , even after I found out he’s a superhero.” She drags a nail over her lip, her gaze going to the sky in thought. “His mind was always somewhere else; I guess _with someone else_.” Her eyes flick down again and meet his head on, crinkling at the corners as she smiles. They look a lot alike, the two of them, like they could be brother and sister. Eddie’s mouth suddenly goes dry. Iris likes her too, he reminds himself, it can’t be just because of _that._ “I’m happy you’re back,” she admits. “I don’t know how, I don’t really want to know how, but…Barry seems happier.”

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“Hey, come on, don’t be,” she replies. “I want to be friends with you. I’ve heard so many good things about you from everyone, this guilt thing you’ve got going on isn’t conducive to that at all.”

Eddie laughs. “Fair enough.” He salutes her with his coffee. “Where you headed?”

“Back to the station. Apparently King Shark managed to get a few more crime sprees in before Harry shot him.” She groans. “The paperwork is _awful_. I know metahumans are a thing now, but writing it down on paper just makes it seem crazier.”

He can’t help but laugh again. “Welcome to my world. Well, my former world.”

Singh’s trying to get him his job back, but dying then coming back again, proving you’re from Earth-1 and not a doppelganger sent by a mad speedster to kill his boyfriend, is a lot harder than it looks. Technically his death was never reported, the same lie of world-travels was used, but Singh wants him to keep gone for a little longer, just to make sure his head is on straight, he wants to explain why Eddie left then came back without rousing any suspicion.

“Join me?” Patty asks. “I know Barry’s there right now. Honestly, I’m surprised I found you by yourself. I thought neither of them would leave your side any time soon.”

“It was a miracle I managed to convince them to let me do a coffee run alone,” he says. It’s both amusing and heartbreaking how the two of them clung to him, like they’re scared he’s going to off himself again. (It worked out in the end, didn’t it?—he’s never trying that again, swear to God.)

The barista calls out his name and he goes for Joe and Barry’s coffees, Patty snatching up Joe’s without a word except, “Let me know when you’re back in the game, I’d like to be your partner too.”

Eddie grins at her. “Good to know, I—.” His phone rings, shrill and loud in the semi-quiet café. “Thawne,” he barks automatically.

“ _Sooooo_ , don’t be mad,” Barry says, sing-song and sugary sweet. “But I kind of, maybe, sort of. So, I might have lost, well, I—.”

“He’s blind, Eddie,” Iris calls out, tinny over the connection, but audibly amused. Eddie snorts, just imagining the antics Barry’s been up to. “We’ve got a new breacher. Dr. Light. Can you come to STAR Labs?”

“Can I bring Patty?” he asks, she doesn’t sound concerned, worried, so he wills his heart to stop beating so fast. He winks at the blonde detective and she laughs.

 This is the start of a beautiful friendship, he can tell.


End file.
